How far do you shoot your air rifle?

I gave myself a new air rifle for Christmas and sighted it in, in the shop the other night (50') and took it out the back door and fired a few shots at the target that was up in my bullet stop 60 yards away from the back door and was impressed at the group for not being too serious trying to get "bench rest" results (5 of 7 inside 2.5").

My first "adult" air rifle so what do you expect?

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Doc7

January 17, 2014, 09:29 PM

That sounds pretty amazing for 60 yards air rifle, but my only experience is with a pump Daisy. What rifle / speed of pellet are you using?

I shoot my pump 15 yards : )

jmorris

January 17, 2014, 09:38 PM

It is an RWS 34 .22 cal with the Benjamin 14.3 g pellets I keep in the shop. I didn't chronograph them but I would guess slower than 800fps (it's rated at 800 and no one seems to tell the truth).

I was shocked too, thus the post.

joe normal

January 17, 2014, 09:41 PM

When I was young, my brother and I shot out to 100 yards regularly. 760 Pumpmaster rifles, usually BB's.

Lots of hold over, group sizes aren't that small, poor in wind. Then we had to memorize hold over for the various ranges, for each of 10, 20, and 30 pumps.

Ah, those were the days.

Peter M. Eick

January 18, 2014, 02:03 PM

Decades ago when I was shooting competitively we used to aim for the metal property line post on the corner of our lot. It was about 1" diameter and we were shooting at it from about 70 yrds. You could hit it often with the match rifles and when you did, you got a little "ting" to know it was a hit. Lots of fun!

jmorris

January 18, 2014, 05:08 PM

I was going to shoot some groups today after the match but decided it was too windy. Only to arrive home and find crows out in the field. One shot is all it took at 98 yards. I have a new favorite air rifle.

I think I need one of those! I can shoot it in my garage I guess, thats 85 feet. should be fun. Good shootin there jmorris. Did the pellet exit?

ole farmerbuck

January 18, 2014, 05:30 PM

I know nothing about air rifles so I'm going to ask.....are air rifles single shot like you have to load a single pellet for each shot?

jmorris

January 18, 2014, 06:32 PM

I don't know if it went through or not but I did chronograph the 14.3 grain pellets I have been using and they run about 100 fps slower than advertised velocity of 800 fps.

This one you cock the barrel to compress the spring/piston and load a pellet, one at a time. They have others that are precharged with compressed gas that are more fancy but cost more than I wanted to spend at the time. Have to admit that I wonder how much better they get though.

Jaymo

January 18, 2014, 09:14 PM

My Bemjamin Marauder .22 puts Crosman domes through both sides of a 55 gallon steel drum at 30 yards.
Good enough for me.

It also drops squirrels quicker than any .22 LR ever did for me.

heavydluxe

January 19, 2014, 12:08 AM

With the right pellet (Diana 34s are notoriously finicky), lots of practice re: artillery hold/trigger control, and ideal conditions, I would imagine that you'd be able to consistently somewhere on a 8+ inch steel circle at 100 yards.

By consistently, I don't mean nearly 100% of the time - but regularly enough to reasonably expect a tink when you do your part. However, I think the slightest variations in wind would lead to wildly inconsistent results at that range. With a modest breeze blowing on and off, I think hitting at 100 yards would turn into a total crap shoot.

jmorris

January 19, 2014, 04:20 PM

The wind didn't seem quite as bad as yesterday so I ran a 5 shot group at 100 yds, waiting for the wind to die down between shots.

I hate waiting on wind so I'll pick a calm day to try out the expensive pellets I ordered.

Mousegun

January 19, 2014, 04:51 PM

I know nothing about air rifles so I'm going to ask.....are air rifles single shot like you have to load a single pellet for each shot?

In most cases you load one pellet at a time. Some rifles have a magazine that allows between 5-10 pellets.

Airguns go from prices like $30 to over $3000, they are not toys.

The benefit of loading one at a time is that you are slowed down and it helps you develop good shooting skills. You learn to hold the gun the same each time, respect for the wind, good trigger control, good site alignment with or without a scope and the joy of putting 5 or more pellets in one hole if you have the right combination of gun and pellet.

I just spent $1000 for a new air rifle and I don't regret the purchase one bit. If you saw the gun you would be hard pressed to tell it was an air gun. The fit and finish is as good or better than many powder burners out there.

They are excellent for shooting where powder burners can't (read, like your back yard) and can be used to eliminate critters like mice, rats and even ground hogs with the right gun and pellet combination.

Here is a target shot at 35 yards with my RWS model 48 in 177 cal. with 10 pellets.

http://webpages.charter.net/vfr800/AirTarget.jpg

jmorris

January 19, 2014, 05:09 PM

Nice!

lykoris

January 19, 2014, 07:00 PM

100m which is fine with little wind otherwise I take the .25 which is less affected

Springers are considerably more challenging than PCPs and all air rifles are addictive:D

peedeecat

January 22, 2014, 08:42 PM

I mainly shoot up to 100 meters, or less, with my springers. However there are some dudes that shoot SEVERAL HUNDRED meters with great results, with PCP guns. There are lots of long range videos out there.

http://youtu.be/9myZiH950wA

Bill in SC

Sav .250

January 23, 2014, 08:29 AM

Air rifles are what they are....... Not bean field rifles. Common sense will take you a long way.

bikerdoc

January 23, 2014, 12:30 PM

Never used mine much beyond 30 yd. Maybe I should expand my range.

Mike1234567

January 23, 2014, 12:56 PM

Never used mine much beyond 30 yd. Maybe I should expand my range.
Me neither. If I were to ever hunt squirrels then I think 30 yds would be my personal limit... maybe even 20 yds and this is with a Benjamin Trail 1100 XL. BTW, I don't shoot lightweight pellets because the darned things tumble soon after leaving the muzzle. If I stick to 17+ gr pellets then this rifle is very accurate. I'm fairly sure the failure of lightweight pellets is due to transonic gremlins.

lykoris

January 23, 2014, 06:24 PM

sav

there is a world apart between a crossman/gamo and something like a daystate air ranger/air wolf or a tuned theoben rapid - putting all air rifles in the same basket is not comparing like for like.

PigButtons

January 24, 2014, 09:11 PM

I have an Air Force Condor that in .22 with a 32.4 grain pellet will shoot under an inch at 50 yards and close to 90 fpe out of a 24" barrel. That's the farthest shooting lane that I have at my place. Others that have custom machined rigs can hit a pop can at a quarter mile using .257 cast lead slugs. Look up tofazfou on youtube to see his video. Quite a few states now allow air gun hunting, minimums are usually .22 for small game, .30 for large game like deer. A quality air rifle will have approximately the same ballistics as a pistol of the same caliber. So anything you could do with a 1911 can be done with a .45 PCP air rifle of the same power. Same weight projectile, same velocity, same outcome.

Deltaboy

January 29, 2014, 02:03 PM

40 feet about it for me.

Calibre44

January 29, 2014, 02:42 PM

Mostly 25 yards for me and sometines 50 yards depending on how strong the wind is.

oneounceload

January 30, 2014, 04:30 PM

What scope do you have on yours? My .17 RWS34 I keep to about 15 yards for squirrel control at the bird feeder, but these eyes need the scope and it tends to wander internally after a few shots. It is an air rifle scope, but not a very expensive one.

jmorris

January 30, 2014, 07:12 PM

It's a $39 Walmart 3-9 tasco.

brianr23

January 31, 2014, 10:42 AM

I usually shoot targets at 20 yards. Pic is a nice group with JSB Diablo Match 8.4 grain. Runs an average of 675 fps and .40" 5 shot groups from my Umarex Fusion.

NWCP

February 1, 2014, 06:26 AM

I shoot small game out to 60-65 yards with my Benjamin Marauder .25 cal. PCP airgun. It will probably be good out to 75 yards, but I'm not. Critters larger than ground squirrels, or rabbits I keep with in 50 yards. My RWS .22 cal. 350 Magnum break barrel I try to keep within 40 yards of the desired varmint.

HankC

February 1, 2014, 10:32 AM

Beyond 30 yds, pellet drop is a major factor and I never get it right!

peedeecat

February 1, 2014, 07:25 PM

<Beyond 30 yds, pellet drop is a major factor and I never get it right!>

That's why mildot scopes should be utilized with airguns.

peedeecat

Katitmail

February 2, 2014, 08:57 PM

I was getting ground hogs at 40 yards with pcp air arms 410. Super accurate up to 50, I didn't try anything further because in general it won't be powerful enough for small game. The gun is super nice. I even want to sell it for that reason. Too nice to take it to the woods.

zeek96

February 8, 2014, 12:34 PM

50 yards .75 inch groups on calm days with benji marauder 25 cal. 8 shots and then starts to string at that distance but will go farther. great little shooter, well not that little.

JSH1

February 9, 2014, 01:54 PM

I have a Crosman custom shop 2400KT (.22) and a Crosman 1377 (.177) with a stock. I shoot both in my garage at 10 yards. Lots of fun for pennies per round. I'm thinking of converting the 1377 to .22 caliber because I find the slightly larger pellet easier to load.

chicharrones

February 10, 2014, 11:18 PM

25 yards is my limit with a springer, whether with sights or by scope. I just can't shoot a springer accurately enough to reach out further and actually expect to hit something the size of a golf ball.

Now with a CO2 rifle, I can shoot tighter groups but the pellet drops more at range due to less muzzle velocity. So, that's about 25 yards with a CO2 rifle, too.

brianr23

February 11, 2014, 09:25 AM

Made a good shot at a range of 52.5 yds (range finder) with my BSA Lightning GRT yesterday. I knew it was good to 40 yds so I pushed it a little further. Turns out it is good to 50 yards. The mil-dot scope and the Strelock app helped out a lot. The app will give you the hold over distance on a bunch of different reticles. Calculates wind too.

Pointshoot

April 8, 2014, 05:25 PM

100 yards all the time. I'm new to airguns & didn't realize that was long distance ! Am quite pleased with my Beeman springer air rifle.

We can get some pretty stiff winds, though. If they are blowing hard, all bets are off.

ZVP

April 15, 2014, 11:30 AM

30 to 60 yards for a "good" rifle is a piece of cake once you learnthe gun. Everyone shoots at least ONE great group but usually nobody sees it!
Heck I have shot my RWS 36.22 @ 100 yards and pretty much held "a minute of soda can" Otherwords ya hit it a LOT!
No you won't get cloverleafs but a good German .22 will stay under 2" @ 50 yards.
Truthfully, oone shoots great groups every time...
I like to shoot 30 yards because you can see the holes easy, and you can hold pretty tight at 30 yds pretty regularlly,
I use both .177 and .22 cal, but lately I am leaning towards .22
I have killed many target squirrels with a .177, and killed em right now! .177 penetrates deep and is real flat shooting so accurate shots are easier to estimate for.
Lately most "GOOD" pellets shoot great at long range and they come in all 3 calibers.
I love shooting on the 50 yd range against powder fired guns!
BPDave

Deltaboy

April 18, 2014, 01:38 PM

50 feet.

Geddinight

April 20, 2014, 08:29 PM

I tried out my 853's today at 30 or so yards. Plenty of drop. When I corrected, a few grouped nicely. That was just with the standard Daisy peep sights.

Any further with them and I'm not sure.

My .22 Marauder will go out to fifty yards with the mil dot scope and some good habits on my part and some luck.

ZVP

April 21, 2014, 02:13 AM

ousegun, that's pretty impressive!
I have a.22 Model 52 and I'm still trying to get groups like that! Seems there's always a flyer or two! I sure am impressed with the distances that the ,22 Model 52 will shoot! I have shot it at 85 yds but haven't tried it at 100 yet. I don;t know about hunting at such long rnges but plinking and paper punching are really impressive! All my high power airguns are .177 except for a Webly Stingray Carbine (wow!) a model 36 and the 52, all are good shooters.
ZVP

mdauben

April 21, 2014, 05:44 PM

Mostly at either 10M or 25ft, which are official bulls-eye target distances for air guns and most of my air guns are target guns. When I do use one of my other guns for plinking or hunting, I generally shoot out to 50-60ft.

Shotgun Sergeon

April 25, 2014, 10:38 PM

I had a Gomo Big Cat 1250 that I sold last summer. One day I got bored and took an old cell phone, stuck one of those little orange dots on (you know, the ones that come with the shoot n' see targets) and set it on a cinder block at about 90 yards. Coulda been 100, I just paced it. I fired about 40 shots at it and each one hit. That phone looked like hell when I was done with it. I put a GoPro next to it. I've got that video somewheres. I'm considering buying a Benjamin 392 in the near future, too many chipmunks and starlings around here and not enough .22 ammo!

Ben86

April 27, 2014, 02:24 PM

For hunting I stick to 25 yds and under, beyond that accuracy and velocity start to seriously degrade. I play around a 50 yds for fun just popping steel. My rifle is .177.

improperlyaged

May 2, 2014, 12:30 AM

Me and my friends routinely shoot 120 yards with his Beeman .22. We were able to hit a gatorade bottle albeit not consistently.

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